Valve: No More Fake Game Screenshots on Steam

In order for developers to sell games on Steam, they must start including actual in-game screenshots.

In a bid to make its listings more transparent, Valve, which operates the Steam video game marketplace, is placing some new restrictions on developers.

In a note shared with Polygon, Valve says that in order for developers to sell games in its marketplace, they must start including in-game screenshots.

"When the 'screenshot' section of a store page is used for images other than screenshots that depict the game, it can make it harder for customers to understand what the product is that they are looking at," a Valve user interface designer, Alden Kroll, said in the note.

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The change will be effective when the Discovery Update 2.0 goes live; it's expected in "a few weeks." Valve, however, didn't say whether someone will actually review each submitted image and how it might police the screenshot feature.

Valve operates one of the more popular video game marketplaces out there. However, in recent months, it's been trying to clean up its service and make its listings more transparent. In September, it cracked down on fake customer reviews and said it would spend considerable time scrubbing reviews to ensure they're legitimate.

The move to require screenshots comes after the outcry surrounding this year's No Man's Sky release, the listing for which did not show legitimate in-game screenshots, causing complaints from gamers.